Christian Headlines Blog Christian Blog and Commentary

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

LSU Digitally Erases Cross in Picture of Students

  • Religion Today Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Oct 23, 2012

A group of Louisiana State University football fans is outraged after the school digitally erased the tiny crosses they painted on their bare upper chests at a recent football game, Fox News reports. LSU officials sent out a photo of The Painted Posse -- Christian students who paint their bodies with LSU school colors and small crosses for home games -- in a weekly email newsletter following LSU's Oct. 13 game against South Carolina, and the students were shocked to see that the crosses had been edited out of the photo, which appeared to be otherwise untouched. "I was a bit surprised, because our pictures get used so frequently, and the cross had never been edited before," Posse member Cameron Cooke said. "The cross painting is important to me because it represents who I am as a Christ follower. And it reminds me who I need to act like in Death Valley," he added, referring to Tiger Stadium's nickname. School spokesman Herb Vincent said the school altered the image to prevent other students from being offended. "We don't want to imply we are making any religious or political statements, so we air-brushed it out," LSU said in a statement. "Only one of the students, who didn't appreciate it, actually contacted us about it. So next time, we'll just choose a different photo. ... It was just a straight sports communication message, no politics involved, no religion."